


Berried Hopes

by Baconfat



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 17:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15778392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baconfat/pseuds/Baconfat
Summary: "This is a big deal, dude!" Prompto said. "A historic occasion! We're finally getting to try Noct's favourite dessert!""It's a dessert," Gladio said. "Try to calm down.""It'sthedessert," Prompto pointed out. "The one Ignis has been trying to recreate! Only he didn't know the secret ingredient because Noct sucks at telling different foods apart.""I was eight," Noct defended himself. "I'd never had it before. And it's hard to pronounce."





	Berried Hopes

As soon as Coctura brought the dessert out, Prompto made sure to snap a picture of the tarts all pretty on the plate with the berries on the side. "So this is it, huh?" he asked. "Genuine Tenebrae Mystery Tart."

"Technically a pie," Ignis said, because he was Ignis and he couldn't help himself. Tragic, really.

"But it's so little!" Prompto argued. "I thought a tart was just a tiny pie."

"Generally speaking," Ignis said, launching into a lecture, "a tart has a sandy or crumbly bottom crust only, with straight, shallow sides. These, obviously, have sloped sides and a traditional pie crust, _including_ an upper crust."

"But isn't there a special word for a small pie? Pieny? Pielet? Oh! _Oh!_ A cutie pie."

"Are we gonna eat these," Gladio asked, "or just argue about what they're called?"

"This is a big deal, dude!" Prompto told him. "A historic occasion! We're finally getting to try Noct's favourite dessert!"

"It's a dessert," Gladio said. "Try to calm down."

"It's _the_ dessert," Prompto pointed out. "The one Ignis has been trying to recreate! Only he didn't know the secret ingredient because Noct sucks at telling different foods apart."

"I was eight," Noct defended himself. "I'd never had it before. And it's hard to pronounce."

"Ulwaat berries," Ignis said, adjusting his glasses and pronouncing it perfectly. "Native to Tenebrae." He picked up one of the little pies and inspected it from every angle, like he was checking for weaknesses. "If this _is_ the missing ingredient, then that would explain your difficulty in identifying it and my own in replicating it. I did do some research, of course, into Tenebraen delicacies, but the trade restrictions made it impossible to test my theories. Well, Noct?"

Noct picked one up, looked it over, took a sniff. "Looks good, at least," he said with a shrug. Ignis was watching him, of course, with even more Ignis intensity than usual. It was hard to tell if Noct was oblivious to that or just used to it. Finally Noct took a bite, chewed and swallowed. Prompto felt like he should do a drumroll. "That's it," Noct said with a nod, before licking his lips and taking another bite. "It's good."

Ignis blinked, just once, before taking a bite himself. Prompto tried to follow his example by taking organized, efficient little bites and, like, savoring the mouthfeels. He managed one bite like that, let out an embarrassing moan that everybody was nice enough to ignore, and then inhaled the rest before he knew what'd happened.

"A heavier crust than I'd imagined," Ignis said thoughtfully, "but surprisingly flavourful. The filling is not quite as sweet as I would expect." 

Noct nodded, his mouth full, and Ignis put the pie down — in the middle of eating it! — to pull his notebook out. But this notebook looked different — definitely older and more worn out than the usual. There was even a stain in the corner. Chocolate? Blood? Hard to say. 

He made a few notes, stopping every so often to nibble at his tart and probably ponder the great mysteries of the culinary arts.

Prompto won two rounds in the arena at King's Knight in the time it took Ignis to finish his dessert. When it was done, Ignis finally looked up again, brushing the powdered sugar off his hands. "Well. That's that," he said, and shut the notebook with a snap. He looked at it for a minute, frowning a little, before finally tucking it away in his jacket. "Shall we move on?"

—

Noct was hungry again by the time they stopped at Taelpar for gas, so he made himself get out of the car and follow Prompto into the Crow's Nest. Got a booth and ordered some fries while Prompto was in the bathroom, probably fixing his hair.

"So," Prompto said when he came out again, sliding into the booth. "Mystery solved."

"Huh?" Noct said.

"The Case of the Pastry from the Past!" 

Noct blinked, sipping his soda. "I guess."

"Kinda sucks though," Prompto said, stealing a fry.

"What does?"

"Dude," Prompto said, like Noct was being dense. "Ignis has only been trying to figure that thing out for what, like, four years? At least?"

Noct frowned, chewing. "Longer than that," he said.

"And then Coctura's just like," jazz hands, Prompto-style, "oh, hey, got it on the first try! Iggy must be crushed."

Noct paused, a fry halfway to his mouth, and looked out the window. Ignis was at the JM Market truck in the parking lot, reading the label on a can of tomato sauce. "Looks okay to me."

Prompto stole a sip of soda before Noct could move it out of reach. "If you say so, dude."

"He's probably happy to have the answer," Noct shrugged. "Now he won't have to keep making it all the time."

Prompto's eyes went wide. "What? No! He's not gonna make it all the time? Where am I gonna get my pastry fix?"

"I don't know, a bakery?"

"Dude! I can't just _eat baked goods!_ The only reason those tarts didn't count was 'cause they were for science!"

"Will you calm down?" Noct laughed. "He can make them anytime you want, now. That's the whole point."

"He's not going to make them anytime I want," Prompto argued, waving a stolen fry at Noct like it was a finger. "He's going to make them anytime _you_ want, which is never, because you hate food."

"I like some food," Noct said, through a mouthful of french fry.

"This is the worst," Prompto said. "You ruined everything. I should have thrown those berries into the sea."

"Ignis would have jumped in after them," Noct pointed out.

"That's true. Man, you need to make up some other childhood food for him to obsess over. What do you think? Chocolate cake?"

"He already knows how to make that."

"That's exactly my point!" Prompto said. "He never does!"

"You come up with something, then," Noct argued.

Prompto scoffed. "Gladio tries that all the time, and it only ever works when it's his birthday."

Noct rolled his eyes. "If you want me to ask him to make pastries, I can do it. But don't blame me if he tries to hide vegetables inside."

"Okay, first of all, vegetable pot pie is a thing, and it's delicious. Second of all, you're missing the point. Making pastries is Ignis's _love language_."

Noct choked. "His _what?_ "

"It's how he expresses himself! To you, specifically! My therapist back home told me all about this stuff."

"You told your therapist about Ignis's pastries?" Noct demanded.

Prompto looked him dead in the eye and said, "Listen to me, Noct. Tenebrae Mystery Pie was Iggy's only emotional outlet. Now he's going to get even more uptight and repress-y and probably start acting out in weird ways because you and your Ulwaat berries broke his heart."

"I what his _what?"_

"Look at him!" Prompto said. 

Noct looked. Ignis was trying to decide between two different kinds of olive oil.

"He's _dead inside_." 

"Yeah, I'm ignoring you now," Noct told him.

—

When they finished Noct's fries and went back out, Gladio was chatting up some girl by the caravan and Ignis was still at the market truck.

"How you doin', buddy?" Prompto asked, like he thought Ignis's dog had just died.

Ignis ignored him, still deciding between the two olive oils. One had a picture of an olive on it, which made sense. The other had a picture of an old woman in traditional Altissian attire with a basket on her head. They were both Extra Virgin.

"What does that even mean?" Prompto asked. "How can anything be _extra_ virgin?"

"You seem to be managing quite admirably," Ignis said, without looking up.

Noct cracked up laughing. Prompto staggered off to the car like he'd been mortally wounded.

When he'd caught his breath, Noct asked, "Ready to go, Specs?"

Ignis frowned at the bottles some more. "Just about."

Noct waited. When he glanced over at the car, Prompto was making faces at him and gesturing. Noct was disturbed at how easily he picked up what Prompto was saying: _dead inside!_

He looked at Ignis, then at the two bottles. One was Cold Pressed and one was Cold Extracted. "So, uh, what's the difference?"

Ignis let out a breath. "I suppose it really doesn't matter," he said, and bought the Cold Extracted.

Okay.

Maybe he was having a bad day.

—

It turned out to be more of a bad _week_. For everyone. 

That night while they were setting up camp, Prompto rubbed his hands together and said, "Sooo, what are we having for dinner tonight?"

"Don't ask me," Noct told him.

"Iggy? Come on, don't pretend you don't have some scrumptious new recipeh you've been dying to try."

Ignis glanced up from the magazine he was reading. "Hadn't thought about it, to be quite honest. Any suggestions?"

He was looking at Noct. "Uhh," Noct said helpfully.

"Could always make Cup Noodles," Gladio said, like he honestly thought they might have forgotten about the existence of instant noodles since the last time he'd mentioned them.

Everyone ignored him. Except Ignis, who got up and put his magazine down with a sigh. Then said, "Why not," and _actually made them_. He didn't even add any extra vegetables.

Noct had a hard time enjoying his meal because the whole time they were eating Prompto was doing this weird thing with his eyebrows, like he was trying to communicate in code. Eyebrow code.

"Will you stop it?" Noct finally hissed, when Ignis got up to make coffee. "He's _fine_."

And he was fine. He ate with them. He chatted and played King's Knight. He just didn't say much about the noodles, or complain about the texture of the freeze-dried shrimp.

That was pretty much how the rest of the week went.

Noct got tossed by a Dualhorn into a patch of sweet potatoes and Ignis couldn't even come up with a good pun, let alone a new recipe.

They went to Lestallum and he skipped out on the spice market.

He made the _same meal_ two nights in a row.

Prompto took like three different pictures of Ignis looking unimpressed and five of him either not noticing or not caring about the camera.

They were leaving Lestallum — Gladio snoozing, Prompto cleaning his camera lens, and Ignis not saying a word — when Noct decided he'd had enough.

Maybe Prompto was right. This one time. It had to happen eventually.

Noct cleared his throat, raising his voice to be heard over the wind rushing by. "Hey, Specs. How about you make that dessert again? The one from Tenebrae."

Ignis didn't even glance at him in the mirror. "I'm afraid we gave our entire supply of Ulwaat berries to Coctura."

"So? Let's go back to Caem and get some more."

Nothing. "A little out of the way for a dessert, don't you think?"

Prompto twisted around in his seat to make a face at Noct that meant _See???_ Noct made a face back that meant, _I'm trying._

"Well, next time we're there, let's get some more."

Ignis kept his eyes on the road. "And take them all the way back to Galdin? If you insist. I'm sure Coctura will be pleased to receive another shipment."

Crap. Prompto was right. Noct took a breath and got up to lean over Ignis's seat. "I want you to make it."

Ignis's answer came a little slower than it should have. Especially considering his answer was, "Oh?" 

"I didn't want to say it where she might hear," Noct went on, "but I remember the pastry being a lot flakier."

Ignis was silent for a few seconds, taking that in. Until all of a sudden he said, "It was rather dense, wasn't it?" Like he'd been holding it in for days.

"And I think maybe there was something else in the filling, mixed in with the berries. Some... uh, other kind of berry, maybe?"

Ignis shifted in his seat, rolling his neck back and forth. "Most intriguing, Noct. It did occur to me that a complementary accent of some kind would truly bring out the berry's unique sharpness. Perhaps Duscaen orange, or even — hm. I wonder."

"Just have to keep trying, I guess," Noct shrugged, sitting back. Made sure to hide his grin behind his hand, but Prompto'd already seen it.

"Indeed," Ignis agreed. "Back to the drawing board, then. Or the cutting board, as the case may be."

Prompto quit fiddling with his camera, finally, and discreetly snapped a photo of Ignis. He was getting good at that.

Then he handed the camera back to Noct, to show him the shot.

It was a good one.


End file.
